Location: I live in the Heartland of the United States - Western Kentucky

Posts: 15,611

Quote:

Originally Posted by greggo

Um, I was thinking about tomatoes but corn is the focus...hmm, maybe i'll have brush up on my venison recipes...it's been a while :)

Tomatoes do well in containers. I grew them quite a few years in the large buckets that kitty litter comes in. I drilled about half dozen 1-inch holes in the bottom of each bucket and planted my tomatoes, put a cage in each bucket and had lots of wonderful tomatoes.

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They will need as much sun as they can possibly get, so if there's a roof over the balcony, they might grow weak and spindley. In the ground, I usually plant them about a foot apart in rows with two foot between rows.

I assume you want to grow sweet corn, I don't recall any dwarf sweet corn varieties but the early season ones tend to be shorter anyway.

Yes, lots of sun and regular watering, can't skimp on that. I don't know about doing 4x4 but what about two rows (taking up about 3 feet wide) going the full seven feet along the outside of the balcony? Well I guess that would be closer to 4 feet wide and seven feet long.
I guess if you have at least 7 feet clearance overhead and get plenty of sun for most of the day, it could be done. Corn does suck up a lot of nutrients, so you would have to start with some nutrient rich soil and if it starts to stint add in more.
Experiments are fun, so if you think you have the minimum requirements to theoretically do it, go for it!

Tomatoes do well in containers. I grew them quite a few years in the large buckets that kitty litter comes in. I drilled about half dozen 1-inch holes in the bottom of each bucket and planted my tomatoes, put a cage in each bucket and had lots of wonderful tomatoes.

That is a good idea, Katie, since I have lots of empty litter buckets.

I don't know about doing 4x4 but what about two rows (taking up about 3 feet wide) going the full seven feet along the outside of the balcony?

I know!

A minimum of four rows is always recommended, to unsure enough wind pollination for the corn kernels...

"Corn requires plenty of space and as much sun as you can give it. For best results, plant corn in blocks of a minimum of four rows. Short rows are actually better than long rows in terms of increasing pollination. Short, so-called "block" planting encourages pollination the most."

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You seriously have the “Green Acres” syndrome. LOL. The thing I am wondering about is the sun light. Corn is something that is usually grown in open fields. Gets direct sun from dawn to dusk. I don’t know if you will get nearly enough sunlight. If you were growing it on the roof of your building, it might work, as long as you do not have taller buildings around you. You might be able to find some kind of hybrid seed that does not require as much sun. If you have an uncovered, south facing balcony, you might have a chance.